According to GM, Vancouver Giants have one more game to decide on their three 20 year olds

The Vancouver Giants had decided trouble with face-offs in their come-from-ahead 5-3 loss to the Portland Winterhawks Saturday night, and you would think that would be a positive check mark for centre Carter Popoff in his bid for one of the three 20-year-old spots.

Also add in the fact that the Giants are saying that centre Thomas Foster is out four to six weeks with upper body injury. He made his return from a shoulder injury that he kept him out since the preseason on Nov. 6 against the Kamloops Blazers, only to leave the game after two periods.

We originally reported in this space that Vancouver had two weeks to go from four over-agers to three with the return of winger Trevor Cox on Friday from injury. We were wrong. Two weeks is for players coming back from pro; one week is for injures.

Sorry.

According to Giants general manager Scott Bonner, his club has until noon on Friday to pick between Cox, Popoff, winger Elliott Peterson and goaltender Daniel Wapple.

That’s, of course, assuming that Bonner doesn’t throw a further wretch into things and get yet another 20-year-old. The Giants could use a stay-at-home left-handed defenceman to help protect leads.

That need was intensified, you could argue, with news out of the Giants camp that steady, lefty shot rearguard Ryely McKinstry is out indefinitely with an upper body injury. Vancouver, like most WHL clubs, doesn’t elaborate on injuries, but upper body and indefinitely generally means concussion.

Speculate at your leisure.

The only lefty blueliner on the Vancouver roster currently is 16-year-old Dylan Plouffe.

The Giants have one more game, with a Tuesday visit from former goalie Payton Lee and the Edmonton Oil Kings, prior to that Friday deadline.

The Giants made Peterson, a waiver wire pick-up from the Calgary Hitmen, a healthy scratch for Friday’s 4-3 comeback win over the Kamloops Blazers and then sat out Popoff on Saturday. That ended his consecutive game streak at 190 games.

Without Popoff, Foster and centre Dawson Holt, who is day-to-day with a shoulder injury, Vancouver had trouble getting control on draws. Again, the WHL doesn’t keep those stats, but it was quite apparent.

They were using natural wingers like Cox and Tyler Benson in the middle.

Vancouver did dominate early, going up 2-0 and leading the shot clock 17-0, but Wapple, who had been so good in his first four starts since coming over from the Regina Pats, was having pucks go through him. He gave up a couple of questionable goals 1:32 apart later on in the first to make it 2-2, and he allowed another pair 1:52 into the second before he got the hook.

He wound up with 13 saves on 17 shots.

The pluses on the night for Vancouver were that the power-play looked dangerous, thanks in large part to the addition of Cox. It went 2-for-4. As well, Ty Ronning bagged his 12th goal.

As for the 20s, Cox and Wapple are obvious keepers. Peterson only has 77 points in 171 career games, but the Giants brass rave about his intangibles, and this is a Vancouver club that’s lost a slew of games that last few years and could use a culture change. Peterson also has 40 playoff games under his belt.

Popoff has 155 points in 227 career games. He is a savvy set-up man and a power-play type.

With so many 1995-born players across the league, Bonner will be hard-pressed to get more than a mid-range draft pick in any trade for his fourth 20-year-old.

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